TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Leofwine_draca Britain's answer to THE BLOB is an equally entertaining film that goes for highbrow seriousness rather than camp escapism. Actually made two years before the Steve McQueen flick came out, this is Hammer at its finest, closely recalling the Quatermass films and serials of the day despite the non-involvement of Nigel Kneale. Story and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster deserves commendation for his entirely literate script, which uses scientific jargon to give the monster an almost plausible reason for existing.The film is shot very well in crisp black and white and James Bernard's trademark stirring music – all screeching strings and the like – is present and correct, making things more exciting whenever it gets into high gear. The eerie Scottish rural locations – ruined buildings in woodlands and vast fields of churned-up earth – contrast nicely with the prim and pristine scientific and medical bases where the action takes place. Dean Jagger is the imported American star this time around, and he does a great job, proving to be far more sympathetic than Brian Donlevy's Quatermass. He's bolstered by a cast that includes a string of familiar British faces; the main supporting actors all give strong, bluff, turns as stiff-upper-lip officials and Leo McKern shows what a good actor he was even in his middle age. Plenty of other familiar character actors also appear in minor roles, from pop sensation Anthony Newley to Doctor Who assistant Frazer Hines and Kenneth Cope. Hammer fans will be delighted in Michael Ripper's minor appearance as a gruff Sergeant.The movie plays out at a fair old pace and even the exposition scenes are genuinely interesting. Director Leslie Norman (dad of movie critic Barry) handles the pacing well and throws plenty of ingredients into the cauldron – from comic relief to all-out monster invasion. The only thing missing is a romance, and for that I'm grateful, as these characters just don't have time for that sort of thing. In the last act, the huge blob appears to wreak havoc in some well-handled special effects moments that make fine use of miniatures and back projection. The film ends things on a high with a minor twist hinting at a sequel that was never to arise. The film was mildly infamous for including two 'melting body' special effects shots that are remarkably effective – even shocking - to this day, reminding me of THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN. For an intelligent monster flick you can certainly do a lot worse than X THE UNKNOWN, a Hammer classic.

Joxerlives Apparently this was supposed to be the fourth instalment of the Quatermass series and you can definitely see the influence here, British location, American scientist character in order to give it some transatlantic appeal, bumptious military types, disbelieving bureaucrats (Dr Beeching?) and young and handsome earnest assistants. This time however the threat does not come from outer space but in a neat twist from inner space, a prehistoric creature that feeds on radioactive energy and has now emerged as the development of nuclear power/weaponry has finally provided it with enough food source to return to the surface. A great concept which unfortunately the special effects can never live up to, I envisioned something more akin to Morbius' creature of the 'Id' from The Forbidden Planet. Speaking of which this must have been quite shocking in its' day, the sight of the creature's victims melting away must have been truly disturbing to a 50s audience. They also kill the kid which must have been taboo at the time. One thing that stuck in my craw a little was the nurse who was rendered mute after witnessing her lover's death, I half expected someone to exclaim 'Well of course she's hysterical, she's only a woman'. Underpinning this all is an early form of environmentalism, atomic energy had been sold to the masses as the great white hope but now people were beginning to have second thoughts as the grieving father's rant against the scientist illustrates. That the creature resembles an oil slick may also be a metaphor of sorts. The ending is somewhat underwhelming, the creatures defeat depending on a tyre getting out of a rut and you wonder if there wasn't supposed to be another scene before the titles run but all the same it's an interesting and entertaining film.

Prismark10 X: The Unknown from Hammer Films was intended to be a sequel to the film, The Quatermass Xperiment, but objections from the writer Nigel Kneale meant that the plot of the film was reworked.The original director was slated to be the noted American blacklisted Joseph Losey who started shooting the film but due to illness had to be replaced by Leslie Norman (Father of film critic Barry Norman.)This is an unpretentious film dealing with issues with nuclear radiation very much in vogue in the 1950s in horror and sci-fi films. The films also predates The Blob by a few years which is more campy.Soldiers in Scotland discover a bottomless crack in the ground with a mysterious source of radiation activity. An explosion kills a few of the soldiers from radiation burns. Soon several more people die of radiation burns.American actor Dean Jaggger plays Dr Royston from an Atomic Laboratory who hypothesises that a form of life from pre-history trapped in the crust of the Earth, tries to reach the surface every 50 years depending on the alignment of the sun and tidal waves in order to find food from radioactive sources.As the entity which is a glowing blob feeds on radiation its mass increases as it tries to make its way to nuclear plants to find more radiation.The film has a mix of good special effects especially with people melting and some ropey ones as the blob moves taking over the town or with fire explosions that look like a match going off. A lot of the horror is off camera but the film maintain its thrills.The acting from Dean Jagger and Leo McKern is straightforward. It has a fair amount of thrills such as a little girl being left behind in a church as the blob approaches or at the climax when a jeep gets stuck in the mud.

LeonLouisRicci The always reliable Hammer Studio would find its Artistic, Money-Making stride the next Year, but before that there were offerings like Quatermass and this follow-up and it was obvious that there were rumblings of Greatness afoot.It would take Classic Monsters, Color, bloody Violence, Cleavage and smart Production all around that would take Moviedom in a new direction and announce that Hammer Studios would be an unforgettable force for the next twenty Years.This was before all that and is an eerie, quite effective, very low-budget, brainy, anti-nuke Movie that has great and gloomy Atmosphere with believable Characters experiencing Horrific situations. There is a good deal of "Scientific Explanation" and is a bit talky here and there, but this nonetheless remains a very good Shocker that is much better than the overrated Rip-Off, The Blob (1958).Definitely worth a view for B-Movie and Horror Fans and even for those who like to laugh at this kind of stuff. Even they may be impressed at its doom laden, Cold-War seriousness and overall quality.